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Guide
Hi welcome, you are here because you need info, or perhaps you would like to share something you just learnt, well this wiki is for you. You are very much welcome to participate and we need more able writers to keep this project flowing. Introduction to Student Guide Basically this is a student guide to share with you what I should have known at the beginning but didn’t learn until later. Most of what is said here seriously doesn't apply to everyone, and is not meant to, it is a general take on doing things, which may or may not necessarily work. Pre-departure Prepare in advance for university life! There a number of specific things you might one to prepare yourself to, before you leap in to this life as a university student. You will have certain expectations, pre-conceptions, misconceptions, random thoughts about university, anxieties about what life is going is going to be like for next 3 to 4 years. You might be thinking about losing your virginity, whatever that is, meeting your soul mate, tasting your first sip of alcohol, smoking shisha, smoking pot, going clubbing, and publicly exposing yourself. But before you consider doing all that, it is essential that you learn and practise certain basic skills such as cooking, washing, changing the bedding and cleaning. You’ll be surprised how many people can’t do these things. You aren’t alone if you’ve never boiled an egg! Learning the basics from friends and family, books or even the internet, will go a long way to help you when you arrive. YouTube is your friend, use it. What to pack You don't really need to pack much, the list of things you get here will eventually grow, you will find that the longer you stay, your list of clothes will grow with you. For starters prepare: * 3-7 sets of day clothes * 1 set of cultural clothing (optional) * 1 set of formal clothing (events presentation) * towel (optional) * bedding (optional) * some toiletries For anything else you may easily be able to purchase them from Tesco Semenyih, but be warned that sometimes particular items may sell out, but its nothing to worry about. You can survive. Meeting like minded freshers Be on the look out for specialized groups on Facebook or elsewhere targeting freshers such as yourself. Join these groups and meet like minded peeps that may be able to share your ups and downs. Places to get help * Lowyat Nottingham Malaysia Campus Thread * Any relevant Facebook freshers group Accommodation Main Article: TTS Student Housing Guide Official university website is here. Where you may find all sorts of helpful advice Your best bet for anything, even if you are feeling lazy, is to email the accommodation office at accommodation@nottingham.edu.my. They may be slow to reply to all inquiries but they are compelled to do so, and as stated officially they will provide certain amount of help when it comes to getting on or off-campus accommodation. Now, the choice is yours whether you will pick on-campus or off-campus. Both have its pros and cons. In terms of safety, Taman Tasik Semenyih is one of the most safest places you could stay, there has been only like 2 student deaths, and it only happens to internationals that engage in clubbing, drinking and a variety of other vices, in like the last 5 years. The only problem is security of your belongings, which depending on the type of property you decided to rent, may lead to break-ins. Usually, students report of laptops and other personal belongings being stolen, but so far there are no known cases of physical attacks. As to cases of passports, getting stolen, you don't have to worry about that, if you are an international, chances are the UNMC visa office does a great job of looking after your passports. Another fun fact, is that break-ins can happen at any time of day, be it day or night. And it doesn't take long for someone to get through a cheap lock, and through your bedroom door. Sometimes leaving your window open too is another potent vector of attack. But this doesn't mean that you won't get burgled if you stay on-campus, cause if you leave your stuff in the open or your room door ajar with your stuff within, expect very much to get your kit stolen, and don't be surprised if the perpetrator is a fellow student. House Selection Criteria * Select houses which are well secured. * Know your housemates * Be wary of staying in bungalow type houses, and houses that are located to the edges, near forests. * The closer to the TTS pedestrian bridge * Bus stop * Terrace Houses which are located in poorer neighbourhoods tend to be safer then isolated bungalows. * Washing Machine * Kitchen * Fridge or Mini-Bar * Water Heater * AC Rent So, how much is the right price, well if this university were not here, rent in Semenyih would have been dirt cheap. Depending on how you play it, the how much you pay for rent can vary a lot, like if you are willing to share your bedroom with like 4-5 other guys then you could scrape by with nothing more than RM 50 per month, or may be RM 100 for a single room and if you like to flaunt your wealth, then you will try something more within the RM 850 per month or higher range. Current average prices are somewhere around RM 500. Which in my opinion is way too high, but will give you a decent bed somewhere close to the pedestrian bridge in TTS 5. Yeah, and rent prices doesn't include utilities. Another fun fact, is that when you decide into stay in those bungalow student hostels electricity tariff is generally going to be higher than average, due to a single main meter being used for the whole house. Claiming Deposit Towards the end of your tenancy, you will find that you have to claim back your deposit which is typically something like 2+1 months with the extra month to cover damages. Most students avoid the hassle of this by not paying the final two months of their stay. On-Campus Rooms There is a slight difference between New and Old on-campus accommodation. For one thing, the old accommodation is located closer to the student association building as well as to the sports and gym facilities. It also features a full kitchen complete with gas powered cookers. Furthermore, it also has a doby and self service laundry areas. The new accommodation while having slightly spacious rooms, have only a small pantry with limited cooking facilities. Also, there is no washing machines or dryers located anywhere near the new accommodation, and residents are expected to carry their laundry all the way to the facilities in the old accommodation to get their laundry done. On-campus Accomodation Layouts Off-campus rooms See this official list. On top of this there are other house owner renting their houses out. Their contact numbers may be obtained from signs placed around TTS, while others you just have to know people. Off campus housing at TTS is separated into a number of zones. There are a total of 7 zones. If proximity is your first choice, then you should look no further than TTS5. If security is your top priority, then you should look at Edu Square (in TTS 5). If you are into new things then TTS7 is your preference, also consider TTS4. If budget is your main concern (and you don't have a car), then you should look at TTS2/3/6. If budget is your main concern (and you do have a car), then you should look at BSS, Pelangi and any other place that fits your fancy. The good thing about off-campus rooms is that regardless of the asking price placed, you are actually able to haggle for a cheaper price (if the asking price is RM 650, reduce it to RM 400) and take upon this as good opportunity to grow your skills of negotiating and haggling. Recent, oversupply of student accommodation means, you are holding a really powerful bargaining chip. Most of the landlords of these student houses typically own many properties and rent out their property like a professional business, use this to your knowledge and be clever in your dealings. Of course, there are the small time, small fish, these guys let out their property at a very good price. One other thing you should know is that UNMC has a really good disclaimer meant to disassociate themselves from any liability coming from using these off-campus providers. Take this as a pinch of salt, your university will look after you if things get really messed up. Arrival First thing first, when you first arrive in Nottingham, chances are you going to be sorted into two categories, You will either be an international student or a home one. As an international student, you will be provided with guides and other useful brochures on living in Malaysia. Read them, cause they might be useful. For home students, the level of support you'd be receving is considerably less, but take it upon yourself to know what is there to be known. Afterall, it is your own country, be a man and grow up. Freshers Week A bunch of social events to get yourselves acquainted. The freshers week in Malaysia campus is not as massive as the one's you see or TV or in movies, there won't be really crazy stuff, and the happenings are considerably tame, by all standards. Nevertheless it provides an early opportunity to get to know people in a friendly and open context. Club and Societies Fair (CSF) Is an annual fair that typically happens in the 2nd to 3rd week of university, where you will be presented an opportunity to register for clubs and societies that could possibly enrich your university life. See list of club and societies for a complete listing of societies. General membership of university club and societies amount to an annual fee of not more than RM 15 per society. Some clubs may be cheaper than others. The perks of club membership is that you would be recieving mail from dedicated mailing lists such that you may be able to join their events. Even so, clubs openly advertise and do allow non-members to join their events and typically the price difference between member and non-member does not amount to more than the price of membership. First-time University Network Registration Follow this link, input your student ID number which is stated on your student card. Should be about 6 digits. Something like 01XXXX. You will also need to input your registered passport number or mykad identification card number as password. http://pelangi.nottingham.edu.my/regtest/ or http://www.nottingham.edu.my/username Medical Check up (Internationals) Every year, international students are mandated to go for compulsory medical check up for visa approval purposes. It is highly recommended that you do your medical check-up as soon as possible and get your visa application started. Medical check-up begins with you visiting the UNMC health centre, following this you will be then be required to visit an approved local clinic for a short x-ray of your chest. The entire process is quite straightforward and doesn't take long. Certain students whom have taken their x-ray within their home countries may request exemption from doing further x-rays. Opening a bank account It is much recommended that you open a bank account with a local bank account in Malaysia as soon as you arrive, for a variety or reasons. On-campus, there are only 2 automatic teller machines (ATM) available provided by two local banks. * Maybank (Malayan Banking) * Affin Bank For Malaysians, opening a bank account is a very simple process of paying a fee of RM 10 to 12. Signing a couple of documents and you will only need your MyKad and thumb print to complete the entire process. Usually, for a university student you will only need be the very basic account type, there may be certain charges for certain transactions but typically the usage of debit card is without commission to the bank. With a basic account, and current bank policy you can make a certain number of free withdrawals. The most important thing you should know is that, typically if you withdraw money from the bank's own ATM you won't be charged extra. Bank Branches In terms of which bank to chose of, well most students prefer Maybank as their bank of choice and this is perhaps due to the abundance of ATM machines you will be able to find all over Malaysia. However, there are certain drawbacks, like since its the most popular, the Maybank's ATM on campus is usually the first one to run out of cash. In terms of service on campus, recently Affin Bank has opened a counter within campus itself to facilitate account opening. While those interested in opening a Maybank account will have to go out to Semenyih to get their banking done, and this in itself is a time consuming process. Either bank is good enough, but personally I would recommend Maybank. Student Card Following registration you will need to get your student card from the security office. You will first need to find the security office which is located in B floor of H building or the Yellow Old Student Association building. Where upon which, you will have your picture taken, and you are expected to return the following day to retrieve a finished student card. Academia This section details a possible guide to answering possible questions you may have during term time. Class Timetables Check your timetables here Reading Lists Reading list for individual modules may be available by following this link. A question most of you would probably be asking is do you need to buy a certain book for your course, for 90% of the time you don't. All that you need to get first class in your course is in handouts and for any other additional material you can easily get it from the library. The library have sufficient copies of books and if a current book is unavailable, you always request it, and you will eventually get it. As part of the university library system, frequent requests of a certain book would lead to them buying more particular books. So it's a good cycle, use it. So, when do you buy, a book, well there will always come a time where a certain book will be repeatedly use and would prove to be the foundation of a particular module, well those times are rare, and you can easily succeed in this uni by not getting it. But if your professor really requests it and begs you to buy it. Then please do, and make sure he sees that you have complied for extra brownie points. Also, to turn the tables back on them, you may additionally request for books to be bought. Though the procedure would require supervisor or a sponsor from any one of the teaching staff. Coursework Submission At some point in your university career you will go through the hassle of submitting your coursework, if you are from the UK campus. You will notice that things are done slightly different here, and you can't drop off coursework in the middle of the night as you would in the UK. Faculty of Engineering :For all schools under the faculty of engineering, the place for you to submit your coursework is the within level A of Red building ©. There is a particular office, which you must take by going to the corridor on your left as you enter the main entrance and its the first open room on your left. It has a counter and you are expected to wait while someone comes and scans the piece of barcode on your coursework. In the olden days, you would generally sign 2 parts of a form, as you submit it, it will be stamped and the form will be split with you receiving the bottom part as receipt. Coursework Submission Hours 1000-1630 Weekdays Faculty of Science :For all schools under the faculty of science, the place for you to submit your coursework is the within level A of Blue building (B). There is a particular office, which you must take by going to the area on your right as you enter the main entrance. It has a counter and you are expected to wait while someone comes and scans the piece of barcode on your coursework. In the olden days, you would generally sign 2 parts of a form, as you submit it, it will be stamped and the form will be split with you receiving the bottom part as receipt. Coursework Submission Hours 1000-1630 Weekdays Faculty of Arts and Social Science :For all schools under domain of FASS, the place for you to submit your coursework is the within level A of Orange building (E). There is a particular office, which you must take by going to the area on your left as you enter the main entrance. It has a counter and you are expected to wait while someone comes and scans the piece of barcode on your coursework. In the olden days, you would generally sign 2 parts of a form, as you submit it, it will be stamped and the form will be split with you receiving the bottom part as receipt. Coursework Submission Hours 1000-1630 Weekdays Note: Some lecturers within this school are known to have custom datelines for coursework submission such that coursework might have to be submitted by 2PM etc. Exam preparation At UNMC, exam prepration is pretty straightforward, you whip out your notes, or whatever you had copied out in class, divide it into chapters, if it hasn't already been, you then make a summary of all that. Do all the tutorials, ask the lecturer if you don't know. Do past papers. Yes, in this university, past papers are given to you such that you may be able to learn from it, and practise. 'Exam Resources' *Moodle https://moodle.nottingham.ac.uk/login/index.php : Obtain lecture notes, tutorials, feedback, whatever that your lecturer intends to give from here. *Portal http://portal.nottingham.ac.uk/ : Obtain past papers from here, login by selecting the category Malaysia students, login with your uni username and password, select the library tab, search for past papers by typing in the module code or name. Download them all. *Share https://share.nottingham.edu.my/ : Another good place to hunt for stuff. Basically over here you'd be looking for examination feedback, and other stuff. Campus Peculiarities There are a number of strange things you will experience when you come to live and stay on Semenyih for one, you will notice that the campus is quite lifeless and tranquil at most times of the day and this is particularly so during weekends and semester breaks. So, where has everyone gone to you might ask? Well, chances are a number of students are actual daily commuters and do not actually spend much time on campus. They will most probably be heading out to Kuala Lumpur to have fun, so you should too. Food and Beverages At UNMC, you will obviously want to be able to eat something, and like most places you have a choice of cooking yourself or eating out. UNMC On-Campus Catering Service Providers Within UNMC, you will have a limited set of food options. There are currently 3 main providers. Most of them are only open from something like 9 AM till 9 PM. * Sodexo Corporation (The Main Caterer) * Subway (American Fast Food Chain) * Secret Recipe (Local Fast Food Chain with Regional Influence) Generally, food price is on the upper end of the scale, and don't expect to get a large serving of anything. Prices range from RM 3 to RM 25. For 24 Hour food service, there is a 7eleven convenience store that is open 247, alternatively seek off campus food delivery. How to Buy Food For subway and secret recipe, the way you have to buy food is pretty straightforward, you go into the shop, look at the menu and prices, make a decision, tell them your order, in the case of subway, ordering would involve telling them what precise ingredients would you like to have in your bun. Now, this may come surprising to some of you but on top of what is the listed price, Subway and Secret Recipe will charge you an additional amount for service tax etc. For Sodexo, in order to make payment, you will first need to buy coupons, basically paper money which you can get in denominations of 5s and 10s. They do have smaller denominations such as 1s and halves to give you as change, but typically they will only sell you in 5s or 10s. # You decide what you want to eat, you have a variety of food options # Go to the particular stall, typically most food sold at Sodexo, as been prepared in advance, so you wait in line. # Point out which particular food item you would like to eat, and always ask for more, otherwise your food serving is going to be so much less. # (Optionally) You can ask out the pricing, cause while it is Sodexo policy to list out prices, recent complacent behaviour can be seen where they fail to put out proper pricing of foods. # The seller will tell you the price and you will pay them in Sodexo coupons, you will be given an exact change. Pro-tip * You can actually alter the Sodexo menu by emailing them so, if you were arriving on campus say Sept 2015. It is hence advisable that you email them, give them a list of ingredients and recipe, and tell them that you did a survey and there is a whole bunch of you who want to eat this particular food. UNMC Off-Campus Delivery Food List Currently there are a number of caterers providing food delivery service to campus and off-campus areas of TTS. Food delivery is typically free, there are however varying minimum charges for deliveries. * Al Shad * Al Reef * Ali Habi * Budyz * Dominoe's Pizza * Idi's See UNMC Food Menu. How to order For most of the food delivery service providers typically you have a few options on requesting your food. * Phone Call * SMS * Whatsapp * Online Food request (available only for Dominoes) Standard Steps # Decide what you are going to order. You do this by consulting the available food lists. # You pick up the phone and start dialing. # State your order, in the fashion of item followed by quantity # Give them your address # Ask them to repeat your order (This is very important) # You now have to just wait for your food order and this may take a while depending on delivery times. Food Delivery Typically, a man on motorcycle will come and deliver the food to you. Most of the time, these are South Asian men from countries such as Pakistan or Bangladesh. Food delivery from most providers will typically be using polystyrene food containers, for bulky food items, semi plastic-paper wrappings for items such as nan and roti canai, and disposable plastic container for curries, if you order dal, you will just get a plastic bag, and the whole of it will typically be carried in a plastic bag. And there is not much insulation, to prevent heat loss. Also, there are health concerns with the use of hot foods being rapidly transferred into polystyrene containers. But don't worry, everybody looks fine, don't they? Dominoes Pizza is typically delivered by a man on motorcycle with Dominoe's pizza's livery. The pizza comes in boxes and will be well insulated in a special pouch placed in a specially designed compartment. So, your pizza will arrive safe and warm. Payment and Collection Before arrival, the delivery guy will typically make a call to you, to inform you of his impending arrival, typically this is before he has even arrived at the predetermined collection area. Next obviously, you make your way to meet him and for all transactions, be prepared to pay in cash. Most of the delivery guys are typically carrying sufficient change but there have been times due to circumstances and situations out of anyone's control where they haven't got an exact change. It is up to you as to how you would like to proceed from there. Notable Fastfood Chains in Semenyih There are a few other fastfood chains that do not do delivery but are only accessible by car. Social Life At university, you are generally expected to make friends build professional connections, yada yada. Football Fanclub A good opportunity to meet like-minded football fans is to watch football in TV rooms at the student association building. Most fans tend to appear on game night, and it becomes a good opportunity to become sociable and interact with fellow club supporters. Though, most of the car owning football fans will tend be out at restaurants in Semenyih to watch the game, while others would prefer to venture into Kuala Lumpur. Online communities There a number of UNMC-related online communities that you may choose to participate in: * UNMC Expression (Facebook) :Though is not as popular as it used to be it is a source of amusement and outlet at venting frustration at a particular campus service. * UNMC Student Media :Every year, a name change ensues. The official student print media. Used to publish hard copies but now reduced to only a token online presence. * University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus (UNMC) Thread :Popular only during admissions seasons but proves to be a good source of information, should you be willing to scour through pages and pages of idle chit-chat. However, this thread is a good place to gain information about UNMC. Transportation University Shuttle Bus The university provides a number of free bus service, the most important one, the Campus-Kajang shuttle service is probably the one that you should be most familiar with. See Shuttle Bus The shuttle bus operates with two different schedules, one for weekday and the other for weekends and public holidays. See Public Holidays Besides this, there are dedicated TTS shuttle service and Tesco shuttle bus services, which you could make use of. How to go to Kuala Lumpur using Public transport # Check schedule decide which bus you want to catch # Go to the bus-stop, nowadays they have pictures and exact coordinates of it, so go figure. # Wait for the bus, generally, you might be at the stop than the bus. # Get on the bus, and ride the bus until the end of the line, seemingly where everyone is getting off. # Cross the road, but be careful, cars don't really care about pedestrians in Malaysia, and make your way to the KTM Kajang railway station # Don't waste your time with the ticket machine, chances are you don't have enough coins or your money is too new to be able to operate it. Wait in line at the ticket office. There are 2 counters, but usually only one is available at all times. # Buy your ticket, Just state your destination, and give the clerk so money, they will return you exact change. # Get your ticket, its a printed piece of receipt and simply walk through the turnstile or open gate, it is not necessary to show the attendant at the station your ticket unless he wants you too. Now, since you are heading to KL you will need to cross the railway tracks and there are two ways of doing this, I would strictly recommend that you use the pedestrian bridge, but if you really have to catch the train, feel free to run across the railway track, just make sure the auxiliary police or station master doesn't catch you when you do it. # Next go to where people are waiting and be prepared to take the train. # Middle coaches are typically reserved for women but its alright for men to be in there. # Depending on the train, if its 6 coaches you will have announcements and indicators to tell you the location of the train but if you are in one of those old 3 coaches then take note of the number of stops, or journey time spent in the train to avoid missing your stop. Places to visit in Kuala Lumpur * Mid valley, its like a big shopping mall * KLCC, get off at KL Sentral, and take the Kelana Jaya Line * Mines, you get off at Serdang. Trip Planning In a recent update Google now provides street view in Malaysia, so take this to use it in trip planning when you want to visit places in Malaysia. Taxis and private hire vehicles. Taxis in Malaysia are generally bad especially the ones you will find at the KTM station in Kajang. Expect to be charged fixed rates and be taken for a ride. However, not all are bad, and there are actually some who use their meters. Fixed rates to UNMC from Kajang KTM station using budget taxis is about RM 25 (this is their made up price by the way and is illegal), for executive blue taxis its about RM30. If they happen to be good that particular day, they might use their meters and the price would be about RM 15. Fixed rates to and from Semenyih, and Pelangi (Tesco) is RM 8, this too is illegal. The recent introduction of mobile apps, has sorted out a number of these taxi issues, and it is highly recommended that if you have a smart phone, that you try one of these apps: *MyTeksi *Uber Basic use of it, you register for free, then that you will input your destination into it and it will get your location using means of GPS. Next it will calculate for you an estimated fare. And it would then search out taxi drivers interested in taking you to your destination, should one be found, a match is made, and the driver is given your contact details, he will call you, to confirm the trip, and you will give him details on you can be found, he will also tell you what his cab looks like and the license plate number. Once you have found each other, he will switch on the meter in his cab and take you to your destination, you will just then have to pay the shown fare on the meter and an RM 2 surcharge, for hiring a cab through this means as per Malaysian government regulations. Oh and these apps require an internet connection that means you will need to have a dataplan. Now, the use of Myteksi has its benefits like they are an opt in service for taxi drivers, so chosen myteksi drivers are actually vetted, and this ensures a certain level of professional service. The taxis will eventually pay Myteksi a percentage so you don't have to worry about all that. The return to Semenyih from Kuala Lumpur is a problem in itself, cause Semenyih is generally considered outstation, or long distance, that most taxis would rather not ferry you back. But if they did the meter fare would probably cost around RM 75. Thus it is recommended that you try catch the last train back, but there always are taxis that are willing to send you home, you have just got to be patient. Grocery Shopping In order to get your weekly supplies, you have a number of a options. Instead of going shopping, try Tesco online, where you have delivery sent to your door step. Only pay a token sum of RM 6 - 8 as delivery charge and you get groceries, without leaving your bed. Mobile Phone Service Subscription Essential to you is to get yourself, a mobile number while you are staying in Malaysia. For internationals, typically you would be looking at getting a pre-paid service. Getting a mobile number is pretty straightforward, you will be needing identification such as your passport when you buy and register pre-paid sims, this applies to local students as well. You have an option of selecting mobile service from: * Digi * Celcom * Maxis * YTL Yes Typically there are benefits on being the same network as your friends, but such benefits remains to be seen. Most of the time, if you are a smart phone user, you will find yourself leaning more to data based personal messaging and hence be using things like * whatsapp * viber * wechat or some other mobile based chat service. Personally, I don't know which Telco best suits you, but I think you should always go with one that doesn't kill you with exceeding quota and doesn't have a hidden monthly cost. Cause most of the Malaysian sims, you will be getting here, will have their credit or validty expiring very soon, so you will always be getting people saying that they could'nt reply you due to a lack of phone credit or some other issue. Personal Internet Subscription For those staying off-campus, or those just need a private connection for special needs. You have a choice of getting a wired or wireless internet subscription, to help fuel your internet addiction. Wired Internet Service Providers * Maxis * TM (Telekom Malaysia) - ADSL internet speeds dl speeds of 1mbps 2mbps 4mbps, ul speeds 0.5 mbps Wireless Internet Service Providers * Maxis * Celcom * YTL YES * Digi * P1 The main differences between them is the presence of a quota, wired connection are typically unlimited. BTW, fibre internet is not yet available at Semenyih despite being available in neighbouring Kajang and on-campus. The problem here is you! If you want it, you will have to lobby for it, write letters to your SApresident@nottingham.edu.my and beg him to ask TM or Maxis to fast track the deployment of fibre internet to Semenyih. Now, a tip in saving money would be to band together and get a high speed quota less internet package and split the cost among your friends. Pro-Tip The price you pay for Internet access is always negotiable. Call your Internet Service Provider every so often and tell them you're thinking about switching to someone else. Ask them if they can make it worth your while to stay and they can almost always come up with a deal. Also works for phone service, credit cards and insurance. Remember, it never hurts to ask. Visa Office Dealing with the Visa office, well the visa office is one of the most talked about department within the UNMC community and there is a reason for that. Here are some tips on dealing with the visa office, when you meet them, always get the email and personal number of the officer handling your case, and throughout the year never forget to ask him the status of your application or whatever. Remember its your fault for not getting on time if you don't do it right. Also CC it to the SA President for better results. Other methods of on-time delivery, is to email the visa office, informing them of an impending flight departure and that you really need your passport for travel, blah blah blah. Visa Application Process The Visa application process is something like this, as part of your university application you will be submitting documents to the university, upon meeting the criteria that is you are holding an unconditional offer, the university will then forward your documents to Education Malaysia Global Services or EMGS, which will take three weeks for EMGS to process, should there be any fault in your application EMGS will return the application to the university and the university will in turn have to query you, should all come to pass EMGS will forward the documents to Immigration and the immigration will conduct another final check before returning it back to EMGS, where it will be passed back to your university then to you. Read the information from the official website http://www.nottingham.edu.my/International/Offerholders/Visasandimmigration/Pre-arrival.aspx http://www.nottingham.edu.my/International/Offerholders/Visasandimmigration/After-arrival.aspx Link to check your EMGS application http://www.educationmalaysia.gov.my/emgs/application/searchForm/ Relevant Emails Int-Admissions@nottingham.edu.my apply.visa@nottingham.edu.my UNMC Visa Office Phone Number +60387253704 (Call during office house 0900-1700 MST) And if all else fail, feel free to drop an email to the Deputy Education Minister P. Kamalanathan who claims that he might be able to help you: kamalanathanp@gmail.com Also, a friendly word to MOHD YAZID BIN ABD HAMID Chief Executive Officer of Education Malaysia Global Services (EMGS) would not hurt. Email: yazid@mohe.gov.my Tel: +603 2782 5800 Where to shop There are a number of specialised places in Kuala Lumpur where you will be able get certain particular items on the cheap or in good variety. For grocery shopping see here Alternatively, consider online websites such as * Lazada.com.my * Groupon * Lelong.com.my * Lowyat.net Buy and Sell Trade forum Campus Parking One of the main design flaws of Semenyih Campus is its insufficient parking space, considering its lack of beds to house its students. Students tend to have to be commuters that have to travel from wherever they are staying to get into cllow parkampus. Campus parking is free, and there is usually ample parking space if you arrive before 9 AM. Campus parking is policed by the UNMC security services and they will lock cars that are parking indiscreetly or in wrong areas. Typical fine is something amounting to RM 50. Frequent users of UNMC parking are required to register their vehicles with security services, but there is no charge involved and each student is entitled to one parking sticker. Parking stickers comes in two colours, red and yellow, with red being used by students and yellow by staff. Though staff are entitled to pick either red or yellow parking stickers. Red stickers entitle holders to park in red parking bays while yellow stickers in yellow bays. Yellow bays are typically closer to faculty and teaching buildings while the red ones are located around accommodation areas. Due to insufficient parking, recently some students have popularized the parking near the TTS 5 pedestrian bridge area. Car Rental For most of the car less students, a number of support industries have formed where by they provide car rental services to students. Their contact details can be found within email classifieds. Most of these companies are actually running an illegal business and their cars are sometimes in really questionable condition. Use at your own risk. Usage of your UNMC Username Your UNMC username is used to access many resources that you will need. Below are some of the more common uses: *UNMC Email System *Moodle (eLearning portal) *UNMC Portal *Workspace *Library Metalib Online Resrouces *Shibolleth Computer Rooms Computer rooms are 247 and it is possible to camp in them for maximum effect. http://www.nottingham.edu.my/IS/documents/ITSupport/CRdetails.pdf Computer availability greatly decreases during coursework submission season and this usually happens some time around week 10 till week 13. Ensure you print on time to avoid queues during printing. For computer and room availablilty: http://labinfo.nottingham.edu.my/LabStats/public/public.aspx Learning Spaces Besides the available computer rooms, the university also provides a number of learning spaces spread throughout campus for you to learn, study, chit-chat and socialise. More information may be available throught the official university website. http://www.nottingham.edu.my/IS/LibraryServices/Using/LearningSpaces.aspx Since, the official page covers much of the uses. terms and conditions, policy blah blah, we shall not need to repeat all those. Here's the quick rundown: Learning@The Core Is one of the larger learning spaces which is equipped with computing and printing facilities, there are plenty of disscussion tables and the like and is a good place for group meetings. Learning@Vetro are two small study spaces located in F3 central teaching. Its good enough for most study purpose, but the feeling could get a bit claustrophobic.Closes early due to cases of student vandalism and theft. Sports Complex The sports complex is the place you would do sports. The Gym In short, the gym is not big, and is about 9m x 20m. It is furnished with: *squats rack *smith machine *Two barbells *Dumbells up to 20kg *3x Thread mills *2x bikes *2x rowing machines *other workout machines *2x yoga mats *and a lot of mirrors. Important Links https://share.nottingham.edu.my/ http://library.nottingham.edu.my/ http://rl.nottingham.edu.my/ http://www.mqa.gov.my/mqr/english/eakrKPList.cfm?IDAkrIPTS=197